


Beautiful Monster

by fateague



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 15:59:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11717676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fateague/pseuds/fateague
Summary: One-shot set in the Enchanted Forest. A traveler heads to a mysterious castle surrounded in legend and darkness.





	Beautiful Monster

The spikes of the castle loomed in the horizon, the silver points seemingly piercing into the dark, angry clouds that filled the sky. Some of the villagers from the surrounding country were convinced the castle was curse, doomed to forever exist beneath the gloom of the brooding sky. Others believed that the near-constant clouds were the work of the castle's owner: a dark queen with dark powers.

He wasn't convinced by either of the stories. Well, that wasn't completely true. He believed the part about the dark queen. But there was no proof that she actually had these so called "dark powers", and there was no proof that she had used said powers to curse her castle to be the inhospitable, foreboding monument of terror that it was. Somehow, it almost left like the castle was reflecting the personality of it's inhabiter.

Rumors of the queen spread like wildfire through all the lands, stories of her wrath and rage frequent court gossip. Stories of peasants raising her ire, legends of villages set ablaze by a temper that couldn't be controlled. In his many travels through the realms, he'd never been lacking in available tales about the queen of Mist Haven. Now here he was, on the path leading to this queen of rage and misery. Something in him was compelled to know if she actually existed--if she truly was the terror that they said she was.

He put one foot in front of the other, his confidence unwavering as he continued down the muddy road, getting closer and closer to those fear-inducing spikes. They looked like the giant icebergs he'd seen during the winter he had spent in Arendelle, but sharper...more menacing. Like they were protecting what was inside from everything that was in the world.

Silently, he made his way through the front gates, huge bars made of iron twisted into gruesome shapes. If he was going to be honest, the closer he got to the castle's entrance, the less confident he felt. Perhaps the castle was cursed to inflict terror on all those who approached it. He most certainly had felt braver from further away. He wouldn't let this little twinge of uncertainty get in his way, however, and he forged ahead at full speed, almost running to the massive doors of the castle. Through these doors were the answers to the questions that burned in his head.

He reached his hand forward to knock on the massive wooden door, but as if on cue, it opened on its own. It creaked and groaned on ancient hinges as it swung into the castle, opening just wide enough for him to walk through into the main hall. He gingerly took a step through the doorway, the hair on the back of his neck standing up in suspicion. Once he had passed through completely, the door closed, settling back into its original stance of silent guardianship.

The main hall of the castle is just as dark and gloomy as the sky outside. Perhaps the rumors aren't just stories made up by idle minds. Perhaps the castle is cursed. It is completely silent, as if the castle has been completely abandoned, but its pristine condition convinced him otherwise. There's not a cobweb in sight, not a dust mote floating in the dim shafts of light that come through the massive windows. He almost turned to leave when a soft humming catches his ear. It's an otherworldly strain, not anything he'd ever heard before anywhere, in any realm. He followed the music through hallways and walkways before he reached a closed entryway. He touched the wood of the door, afraid of what waited beyond. The humming stopped abruptly and the door creaked open of its own volition. His feet, as if with a mind of their own, moved into the room, and the door closed behind him. He pulled at the handles, trying to get them to open. He was trapped in this room.

A soft clicking caused him to whirl around. He was met with complete and total darkness, a blackness so thick it nearly choked him. A soft laugh met his ears, a sound both beautiful and terrifying, and it kept him frozen in his spot by the doors.

"Come to see the monster, have you?" a soft, deep voice purred into his ear.

He jumped, flinching at the nearness of the haunting voice. He prided himself on being completely aware of his surroundings, and yet she'd been standing close enough to whisper into his ear and he had never felt her there. A hand came to rest on his shoulder, its touch light and heavy at the same time.

"You have questions, I assume. No one comes to fine me unless they have questions. It seems all the world wants is answers to their questions."

The hand is removed and the clicking resumes. He knew she was moving, could hear the sound of her footsteps, but he still couldn't feel her presence, her energy.

"Y-y-yes," he stammered. "I mean, I have quest-questions."

The clicking stopped again. "Then ask them."


End file.
